The 28th General Assembly of the International Council for Science (GA of ICSU) approved a new initiative that challenges science to do more to cope with natural disasters.

The ICSU's natural hazards initiative, focused on using science to prevent natural hazards from becoming catastrophic events, will begin with the establishment of a multi-disciplinary planning committee of scientific experts who will design a plan of action to be implemented over the next three years.

Gordon McBean, head of the ICSU Scoping Group on Human-Induced Environmental Hazards said, "We can't actually stop hurricanes or tsunamis. But if we bring together the right mix of research work that integrates disciplines and find a better way to plug these insights into the policy-making process, we can avoid a lot of unnecessary human and economic losses."

McBean noted that scientists have already provided strong evidence that natural disasters are a growing threat and have offered advice for specific action that can be taken to reduce exposure to harm. For example, years before Katrina struck, scientists had provided detailed analyses of the shortcomings of the New Orleans levee system and the dangers posed by the loss of surrounding wetlands.

"We have found a lot of evidence showing policy-makers at times act in ignorance or simply disregard relevant scientific evidence of what's needed to prepare for or prevent devastation from a natural, predictable event like a hurricane," McBean said. "Why do we continue to see land use practices around the world that clearly boost the risks of floods, wildfire, and landslides? Why are we not making better use of satellite data to anticipate vulnerabilities?"

"Most of the time, relevant scientific information tells governments things they don't want to hear," Professor Richter told Xinhua,

"If you ask governments to change what they are doing and spend lots of money on something, you have to convince not only the government but the public as well," he added.

An ICSU report shows that between 1900 and 2000 recorded natural disasters rose from 100 to 2,800 per decade, with most of the events being weather-related. The report notes that natural hazards now kill, injure or displace millions each year and cause great economic loss. In 2004 natural disasters caused US$140 billion in damage. Events in 2005 are, unfortunately, likely to dwarf that number.

"We need to find new ways to communicate science to decision-makers so that they understand how to integrate scientific evidence into their political and policy processes," McBean said.

"A strong component of this initiative will focus on linking scientific advances to end-users, which include local, regional and national governments and also development agencies and those providing humanitarian assistance," he said.

ICSU's 28th GA opened Tuesday in Suzhou in east China's Jiangsu Province with more than 230 participants from 63 countries and regions. China hosted the 22th GA of ICSU in Beijing in 1998.

(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2005)